IDE Integration

NEX can be integrated directly into Visual Studio Code through the NEX VS Code extension. This integration provides a lightweight bridge between the editor and the NEX CLI, enabling interactive agent workflows and editor-assisted actions without leaving your development environment.

The extension runs a local background service inside VS Code and exposes a small set of commands that allow NEX agents and the editor to communicate in a structured, tool-backed way.

Key Features

• Editor Bridge: Connects VS Code to the local NEX CLI for agent-driven workflows.
• Editor-Aware Actions: Run NEX agents against the active file in the editor.
• One-Click Commands: Start, stop, and inspect the NEX background service from the Command Palette.
• Inline Code Updates: Apply agent-generated changes directly to the open document.
• Configurable Runtime: Configure EDA tools via VS Code settings.

Architecture Overview

At a high level, the integration consists of three components:

1. VS Code Extension

   • Hosts the local background service
   • Registers editor commands
   • Manages configuration and lifecycle

2. NEX CLI

   • Invoked by the extension to run agents
   • Connects to the local background service

3. NEX Agents

   • Execute tool calls (file edits, analysis, waveform tools, etc.)
   • Return structured results back to the extension

This design keeps NEX as the source of truth for agent behavior, while VS Code focuses on presentation and file integration.

Installation

Install the NEX VS Code extension using one of the following methods:

• From the VS Code Marketplace (search for "NEX")
• By installing a local .vsix package (for development builds)

Once installed, reload VS Code to activate the extension.

Configuration

The extension exposes a small set of settings under the nex-vscode namespace.

These can be edited from Settings → Extensions → NEX or directly in settings.json.

Commands

All NEX commands are available from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P).

NEX: Start Service

Starts the local background service. If the service is already running, NEX will display a warning.

NEX: Stop Service

Stops the local background service if it is currently running.

NEX: Get Service Status

Displays the current status and port of the background service.

NEX: Suggest Comments

Runs the Commentator Agent against the currently active editor file. This provides a one-click workflow for adding or improving inline documentation.